


What?

by Anonymous



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Falling In Love, Introspection, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:28:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25643569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Saying I love you is easy. Right?
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 320
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

It's very easy to say 'I love you' to a friend, Dream knew.

To him it was the simplest thing, an expression of affection. Something to let them know you care about them. He did it all the time, as a joke, because it was requested of him, or just because he felt like it. It had always been easy for him.

He also understood that it was different for some of his friends, specifically George. He was uncomfortable with it, and that was fine, Dream would still tease him about it, but he accepted it. They had talked about it, and Dream was over being upset by it.

So why had that all changed? Why had he started choking on the words? Why did every refusal of reciprocation hurt just a little more than the last? It had always been easy for Dream to tell his friends he loved them, so why was it different for George.

He didn't know, but he wanted to find out. So he tested it.

He decided to tell each of his friends in turn that he loved them. Not in a way that would be obvious, he didn't want to give away his goal. Dream started with Sapnap. He had known him the longest, it would be as close as Dream could get to a control.

He did it after a recording, just after they'd finished up. And it was normal, entirely normal.

It felt just the same as it always had, nothing was different. Then again, he hadn't expected it to be. He only felt different when it was George. He just needed to find out why.

So he decided to scrap the test, and focus on why George was different. It was George, they'd been friends for years, why did he suddenly start feeling differently about him. Feeling. He felt different about George. He just needed to find out how and why.

Dream made his new goal to tell George he loved him as often as possible, without being weird, so he could see what was different. And, hey, maybe it could fix things if he said it enough.

It didn't though. It just got worse, he choked a little more each time. And each time George refused to respond it stung a little more, until the dull ache it used to be, became a searing burn. It wasn't working and Dream didn't know what to do, he couldn't continue. It hurt too much. So he stopped. He decided it wasn't worth it, he didn't need to know why. Dream just wanted, needed, to stop hurting.

So Dream stopped telling George that he loved him, otherwise carrying on as normal. And it still hurt. Not as sharply as before, but it was still there. In the background, able to be ignored, until something managed to hit it dead on and it flared back to life. Dream hated it. He hated that he hurt whenever he talked to George. It was ruining their dynamic, and George was starting to notice.

Dream hated it. He knew George wouldn't mention it until it got bad, he was good like that, but he had gotten some slightly questioning messages. It sucked.

Why was it only different with George? Why couldn't he just say he loved George? Why couldn't Goerge just tell him he loved him too? Why was it so fucking hard for Dream to just tell George he loved him? It was stupid. He loved George, they were friends, he knew this. He just wanted things to be normal. Dream hated that he was starting to ruin things. Dream had been in love with George forever, why was it different now? He had been _in love _.__

He was _in_ love with George. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first work for ao3, so it is what it is.
> 
> Also, I wrote this at 2am, so like, that's where we're at right now. 
> 
> If you like it or would like to see more, you can let me know
> 
> Thanks for reading :)
> 
> Edit: hi, yes, I'm Exi, but this is on anon bc,,,, reasons


	2. Chapter 2

It was difficult to say 'I love you' to a friend, George knew.

It was easy to say it to family, or to random fans. That was simple. For family, it was expected, and for fans it wasn't personal, just a phrase said to words on a screen, or a person you'll never really see again. So he could do that, but to say it to friends was just weird for him. 

He knew it was different for most of his friends, George had no problem with them all telling him they loved him, it was normal at this point. He just didn't want to resiprocate. That was fine for him, and it was fine for his friends. He'd talked to them, and it was fine.

They all told George occasionally, Dream was probably the most common one to do so though. George was okay with that, it was mostly for the views anyway, or so he thought. 

Because Dream had recently started saying it all the time. Every time there had been even the slightest opportunity to say 'I love you' he did. It was weird, but George could have dealt with that on it's own. It was just that Dream also always went slightly quiet after he said it, or it sounded like he couldn't quite get the words out. 

It was strange, and George didn't like it. He had been thinking about asking him about it, maybe seeing if Dream would calm down a little bit. George had said he didn't mind, and he didn't, but this had been kind of excessive. But he didn't want him to get the wrong idea. He wasn't sure how to word it, or how to bring it up without making things weird himself. George thought he might even be imagining things. 

It was possible that he just noticed it more with all the attention their fans had been putting on the phrase. George was sure that was it. It was all just getting to his head, he just needed to get over it. It was fine, and bringing it up would just make things weird. 

Then Dream stopped saying it all together, and that was worse. George found that every place where Dream would have said it before, there was just silence. He didn't like it. It wasn't right, it wasn't normal. He knew something was wrong this time. So he sent a couple gentle messages to see if everything was going alright, and got solidly rebuffed in response. 

George wasn't sure what to do, he felt like Dream was pulling away. They'd been friends for so long, and something like this hadn't happened before. He wanted to know what was happening, if he'd done something wrong. He hadn't thought about how normal it was to hear Dream say 'I love you,' until it stopped. George thought he might even miss it a little bit. Which was weird in itself. 

Why would he miss something he just tolerated? It was fine, he didn't actually miss it, George was just confused because Dream had suddenly stopped. That was it. That made sense. He definitely didn't miss it, he definitely didn't miss having the option to say it back. He never would of course, it was weird. So why was a simple change messing with him so much?

There was no way George actually wanted Dream to keep telling him that he loved him. That would be absurd. There was no way he actually wanted to say it back.

And yet, every time there was a pause where Dream usually would have said I love you, he felt himself hesitate as well. The words trying to crawl their way out into the open air. It was weird, because, sure, he cared about Dream. They'd been friends for ages, of course he did. But there was no way he loved him. At least not his kind of love that was only for family, partners, and the weak, watered down, version for fans. He definitely didn't love Dream. There was no way he was _in love_ with Dream. 

He was _in_ love with Dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy, part two I guess? 
> 
> Still can't write dialogue to save my life, but y'know, that's just how it be sometimes
> 
> I hope you liked it, thanks for reading
> 
> I might add a third chapter, but I'm not entirely sure


	3. Chapter 3

Sometimes, it's easy to say 'I love you'. It can be the easiest thing in the world. Just a simple way to express affection. But sometimes, sometimes it's the most difficult thing in the world. Sometimes the words hide away. They refuse to let themselves be known. 

Love is both the simplest thing in the world, and more complex than the universe itself.

-

Dream was in love with George, and he wasn't sure what to do with that.

Dream just wanted to get over it. He couldn't be in love with George, it would ruin everything. So he decided he just had to get over it. He just had to go on as normal, it would go away. He would ignore it and it would be fine.

It was not fine.

He couldn't get over it. Dream tried, he tried so hard. Everytime he talked to George he would shove any thoughts of love to the back of his mind. Dream put them in a box, but then George would laugh, or he'd say something stupid, and the box would burst. He'd be flooded with warmth, and love, and a fair bit of guilt. He hated it. He hated everything about it. 

Dream hated being unsure. He disliked not knowing how to act or react, and he hated not knowing if he was giving himself away. He didn't know what to do. Dream just knew it could only be so long until it came to a head.

-

George was in love with Dream, and he knew just what to do with that. 

Nothing. George would do nothing. He would sit with his feelings, and he would acknowledge them, but he wouldn't allow them to interfere with him. He didn't know quite when he had fallen in love with Dream, but it had been a while. So he would act the same as always and it would be okay. 

Or, it would be okay if Dream hadn't still been acting sketchy. Dream had almost been avoiding him. Sure, they still recorded videos, but when before Dream would have stayed and talked for a while longer, he left immediately. What was worse, was that Dream had the stupidest excuses to leave right then. 

George didn't know what he had done. He'd asked around and everyone said that Dream had been acting normal. It was just him. 

He knew it couldn't be him acting different, things had been strange even before he realized he was in love. There had to be something different.

And it all seemed to be centered around the words 'I love you'.

Such simple words caused this whole mess.

What would have changed? It might have been fans putting pressure on him, but that had been happening for ages, and Dream had always been fine with it. It also could have been that Dream realized that he was in love with him, but he hadn't been acting different, hell, Dream had been acting off for longer than George had known he was in love. So it couldn't really be that.

Numerous different reasons where thought of and almost immediately discarded, all except one. But it was just unrealistic. There was no way. But.

Maybe. 

Maybe it was because Dream.

Maybe.

-

They had just finished recording a video, and George just knew Dream was going to make an excuse and leave immediately.

"Hey, uh, I promised I'd call my mother today, and I haven't yet, so I've got to go do that-" He was quickly interrupted.

"Dream, It's 4am for you." Did George have Dream's timezone memorized? Yes, of course, they'd been friends for years. He wasn't having it.

"Oh," Dream laughed a little bit, "Yeah, you're right, I should probably go to bed then."

"Dream, please just wait a minute. You've been acting weird lately, I know you don't care when you go to sleep, and I just want to know what's really going on."

Dream paused. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Don't lie to me. You know you've been weird, I know you've been weird. What's going on, is it something I did?" George tried to sound upset, it wasn't too hard. He didn't think Dream was mad at him, but he was still a bit worried. He just wanted to confirm his suspicions. 

"No! You haven't done anything! It has nothing to do with you." Dream immediately felt bad for bailing on him so often. His plan to save their friendship wasn't going well.

"So there is something wrong!" Dream had played right into his hands, now they would have to talk about it.

"Wait- No!" 

"I know something's wrong, you've been weird. Just tell me and we can do something about it." That was the exact opposite of what Dream wanted.

"No, it's fine, nothing's wrong and we don't need to talk about it."

"Dream you've been weird, you started telling me you love me literally all the time, and then you just stopped. I want to know what's wrong! You've been normal with everyone except me."

"Aw, does Gogy miss me telling him I love him!" Dream's immediate response to stress was to make jokes. It worked for recording, but it didn't usually go well for him in real life.

"Stop it, Dream, I'm trying to be serious."

"You know what, I think I'm done here for now. I have things to do today. I'll talk to you later."

It was quiet for a moment.

"Dream?" He paused, just before leaving the call. George sounded different from just a moment before. He sounded nervous.

"Yeah?" George was pretty sure he knew what was wrong, and he knew how to find out. He just had to take a risk, but he was nervous. He took a deep breath.

"Dream, I love you."

Dream panicked. He didn't know what to do with that. It was everything he wanted, and everything he knew would ruin him. If this became a normal thing Dream just knew he would give himself away. So he did the only thing he could do, he made a joke.

Dream laughed a little bit, "Aw, really, you say that now? Just after I ended the recording?" 

"Dream, I'm trying to be serious."

Dream had to say it back, it would be weird if he didn't. It was the thing that got him in trouble before. He'd have to live with it even if it hurt.

"I know, if you really want me to say it back I will. I love you too, George, but I do have to go."

"Dream please. I think you know what I mean."

"You. You _love_ me? Like actual _love_?" Dream had to be sure. He couldn't be wrong, if this was a joke, he'd be heartbroken.

"Yeah, Dream, I love you." After saying it once, it was easier. 

"Oh."

Silence.

"Dream? You okay there? Like, you don't hate me now right?" The lack of a real response was messing with his confidence. George thought he knew what was going on, but if he was wrong he might have just ruined everything.

"... Yeah. I'm good, just processing."

"And?" George really needed an answer.

"I think- No. I know, I love you." George was instantly relieved.

"So. What do you want to do about it?"

Dream, caught off guard, laughed. "What? That's such a dumb thing to say! You're such an idiot!"

"But am I your idiot?"

"You know what? Yeah, you are."

-

"Dream?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

-

They were in love with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I think this is the end.
> 
> I might write something else in the future, but this is the end for this one.
> 
> Also, dialogue is significantly less annoying if you just go for it. It's been a process
> 
> Thank you for reading!!!


End file.
